The Game's Extra: Azhriel Odyssey-Chapter 42: Black.

Videllia’s eyes narrowed with mild curiosity as the shimmer of teleportation faded, revealing the next examinee.

A boy emerged—a stark figure draped in a long black robe. The fabric clung slightly in the front from motion, yet flowed behind him like a shadow trailing a flicker of moonlight.

The hood covered most of his head, but strands of long, snow-white hair spilled out from beneath it, catching the soft glow of the chamber’s light.

His steps were silent as he scanned the room, posture straight, gait measured.

"So you’re next, huh?" Videllia said, her voice casual but edged with the usual playful lilt.

The boy turned toward her, and for a moment, she blinked.

His face was ethereal—like something sketched with deliberate care and brought to life. Pale skin smooth as porcelain, lips neutral yet graceful, and most striking of all, eyes like twin sapphires.

They held a depth she hadn’t expected—unfathomable, like a sea untouched by wind or moon.

’Now that’s what you’d call picturesque,’ she mused, one brow arching slightly in appreciation.

But then she caught it—the slight widening of his eyes, the quiet inhale.

A look she’d seen before.

’Same old reaction, huh.’ She thought.

Videllia, however, only smiled.

Her voice was light, teasing, as it came out. "Hehe, are you that entranced by your senior’s beauty?"

Though internally, she studied him with sharper focus now.

Unlike the others who stared at her with awe, admiration, or the usual immature infatuation, there was something else in his gaze.

A deeper warmth.

An emotion far too pure and complex to come from a simple crush. Yet... it was faint. Covered. Obscured. Like someone had taken a curtain and drawn it over his heart, aura, rank or feelings to hide it from everything.

But her eyes were not ordinary.

They didn’t just see through illusions—they felt emotion, that echoed soul.

And his? His emotions flickered with affection... and something she couldn’t quite grasp—suppressed, restrained, like it had no right to surface yet still refused to vanish.

’Have we met before?’ she wondered again, shifting through her memories.

Nothing.

’Is he one of those quiet types from the school fan club?’

She kept the smile on her lips, but her curiosity stirred.

There was something about this boy.

Something... familiar, yet distant.

The boy jolted, blinking rapidly as if the spell had broken.

His sapphire eyes shifted, the subtle tension in his posture betraying the sudden awareness of being caught. For a second, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out.

Just a small cough—and an apology.

"Let’s not waste anymore time and start the trial."

The boy stepped forward—calm, quiet, almost too still.

Videllia raised her hand slightly, that ever-playful smile still tugging at her lips. Then, without warning, her aura shifted.

A silent pressure descended.

Killing Intent.

Cold. Suffocating. Absolute.

It wrapped around the room like a coil tightening. The air grew heavier, the dim lights above flickered faintly under the sudden surge of mana. Her killing intent surged forward—thick and overwhelming.

The boy froze.

His breath caught.

Reflexively, he tried to summon, his own intent to push back—but before he could fully release it—

"Uh-uh," Videllia said softly, waggling her finger.

Her tone was sweet, almost musical, but her words held weight. "You have to endure it without resistance. That’s the trial."

The pressure increased again, almost playfully, like a beast circling its prey, testing its will. She watched his reaction closely.

He didn’t move back.

His hands clenched at his sides.

A small flinch, a twitch of the eye—but he didn’t fall. Didn’t stagger. Instead, he grounded his feet more firmly and took another step forward.

’Let’s see how far you’ll go,’ she thought, voice silent within her mind.

The boy stepped again—slow, deliberate, each motion a battle in itself. His breath grew ragged, yet he did not stop. He faced her aura like a man walking through fire barefoot, unwilling to flinch.

’Strong-willed,’ Videllia thought again, a genuine note of admiration in her mind. Most would’ve crumbled already, knees buckled under the sheer pressure.

But then—something changed.

As he crossed into the last three steps, her eyes, tuned to the emotional whispers, caught something she wasn’t meant to see.

For the briefest moment, the veil over his emotions slipped.

And there it was.

A shadow.

No, more than a shadow.

Beneath that calm exterior, beneath the grit and steel will—boiled a storm. Pure, unfiltered blackness. Not just the kind that came from pain or struggle... but something older, something deeper.

Hatred—vile and venomous.

Guilt—like chains dragging him under.

Anger—quiet, yet screaming.

Videllia’s smile faded slightly. A cold chill crawled up her spine.

’What... was that?’

She couldn’t look away now. That one glimpse had shown her something terrifying—something not even the boy himself may fully understand.

And yet, he kept walking.

One more step.

Two.

Until finally—he reached her. His hand, steady despite the tremble in his breath, touched hers.

And she felt something strange again.

Her thoughts scattered like autumn leaves in a storm calmed. That warmth—gentle, quiet— lingering in her fingers, a strange contrast to what she’d seen buried deep inside him moments ago.

She hadn’t expected that calm. That quiet serenity in his touch.

It had softened her mind, slowed her heartbeat, and made her forget she was supposed to be testing him.

She had zoned out, just staring at his hand in hers—until his voice snapped her back.

"I don’t mind you holding my hand," he said smoothly, a faint smirk on his lips. "But you know, it won’t be good for your image. Rumours spread easy, after all."

"H-huh?" Videllia blinked, caught off guard.

A pink tint bloomed faintly across her cheeks as she quickly let go, pulling her hand back as if it had been burned.

"You little..." she muttered under her breath, low enough for him to not listen, and unsure whether to glare or not.

That smug look of his... it was definitely payback for earlier.

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